Rip It, Rip It: When to Throw Your Work to the Frogs

frogging

needlework slang for the massive ripping out of a section of--or of each and every lovingly made stitch in--a project.

Repeat after me: Rip it...rip it...rip it...

Earlier in this blog (you know--last February when I last bothered to post more than one day in a row), I made mention of the Afghan From Hell. This was my pet name for the large afghan I was (am) making for my sister's wedding, which was on October 11, 2008. Note that I say "am," because it is still not done.

Now, I've had projects that I haven't finished before that were intended to be gifts. I still feel guilt over them, but the person wasn't expecting a gift from me, specifically, so no harm done, right? (My name is Judy, and I'm a Myers-Brigg P.) This is the first time I've ever failed to finish a gift that had a definite do-or-die due date. Hopefully it won't start a trend. But, I digress...

The afghan is in a classic cream (Plymouth Encore 75/25 Knitting Worsted, Color 0256). I was looking for a classic pattern to go with it, something in a fisherman sweater style. I finally settled on a pattern (Leisure Arts #100318, "Afghans for All Seasons," pg. 72), bought my 20 balls of yarn, and got started.

I was on the second or third row of the pattern when I jokingly dubbed it "The Afghan from Hell" because it was a perfect case of take two steps forward and one step back. Now, don't get me wrong--it's a gorgeous fabric that looks very similar to a knitted design. But, it was all done in single crochet or slip stitches, front loop only or back loop only. To the uninitiated, this means that it was IMPOSSIBLE to do it without paying total attention. The few times I allowed myself to be distracted by, I don't know, trying to talk and crochet at the same time (imagine, wanting to do that!), I messed up the pattern, didn't discover it until halfway through the next row, had to rip it out, and there went an hour's work. Yet, I persevered, until it resembled a wide scarf (I'd done about 35 rows out of 230-something). At which point summer came, and I kept finding other things to do.

Anyway, one of the reasons I haven't been back here since spring is that, when I wasn't working on The Afghan from Hell, I wasn't working on anything else, either. I totally stopped knitting and crocheting, mostly due to the guilt. I knitted a bit on a trip to my hometown because I bought the materials there and couldn't have taken the larger project with me anyway (the bride was there), so the guilt didn't get in the way that weekend.

So, finally, I made the decision. I could not motivate myself to work on The Afghan from Hell. And I still wanted to make an afghan for my sister with that large quantity of yarn I'd purchased for a large quantity of money. So, I spelunked in my books and on the internet, and came up with this. I'm about a third of the way through it, the fall leaves are falling, the wedding trip is behind me, and the costumes have to be done by Saturday. So, after that, it's crisp fall air and afghans for me! I confess that I have NOT frogged the original afghan, yet--if I need the yarn, I will. If I don't, I guess I have a really pretty scarf!

Moral of this story: If you don't like it--if it isn't fun to make--then don't make it. There's too little time, too many patterns, and too much yarn out there for that!

So, sister dear, it's not done, yet. I hope you are enjoying the thread crochet doily I gave you for your bridal shower (I did finish that!). I promise to have your beautiful, cozy afghan finished before the winter winds bring chilly weather to southern California!

Creativity for the Uncreative

People tell me that I'm creative. But, the fact is, I don't think I've ever made anything up from scratch in my life. In the 1950's, a man named W. Edwards Deming went to Japan to teach U. S. manufacturing techniques to Japanese automobile manufacturers. The Japanese took this basic structure and ran with it, and we all know how that went, don't we? Well, I do the same thing--I decide what I want to make, I find a pattern that closely matches the form of my end-product (any pattern, even a not-so-good one, because it's a "look" I'm going for, rather than perfection, and some basic guidelines on how to achieve that shape), and then I go from there.

Take the armor: I made this armor for my son when he was about six years old. (As you can see, it still fit him when he had to dress up for medieval faire at school last year.) The benefit of hand-making something like this is that it has held up to six years of usage by three boys and, really, the helm took an evening and the gauntlets another. I started off with a basic pattern for an acorn cap (no longer online, as far as I can tell, but I'll keep looking), and then, using an open dc pattern that resembled chain links, extended it down his face and neck. I started working back and forth at the section with the face opening, and, then, when it was the right size, chained across, joined, and continued working in the round until it was long enough. The gauntlets were a mitten pattern--I made them fingerless, and then attached to the wrist end and worked my chainlink pattern until they suited me. I got fancy and edged the helm in gold crochet thread (he was King Richard from Robin Hood in the orginal rendition of this costume).

Don't ask for specifics--it was a stream-of-consciousness thing! And, really, that's the point--even an advanced beginner can do things like this when you have a basic foundation to work from. If it doesn't look right, you pull it out and redo that part (which is what I like about crocheting--knitting is still very scary to me in that respect!).

Oddities

I belong to a community orchestra (I play the flute, right-handed!). I stopped to chat with the mother of one of the other members, who happened to be crocheting. It isn't often that you catch another crocheter in public. We are obviously a stealthy bunch, and it was nice to come across a like-minded soul who is brave enough to admit that she does something other than knit. As I chatted with her, it struck me that something looked wrong. Awkward. Odd in a way I couldn't put my finger on.

Finally, it hit me--she was RIGHT-handed!

So, righties, now I realize why you always think we lefties look odd. Back atcha! :)

Update

OK. The more I do this, the more I realize that I need a new camera. But, we'll persevere. Here is the blanket I was making for my son using the Lamb's Pride wool. It was pleasure to make, and this picture simply does not do it justice.

It was made in mostly double crochet with the occasional triple crochet embellishment, using the pattern "A Child's Very Own" in Leisure Arts Presents Afghans for All Seasons. Lamb's Pride is simply a pleasure to work with, and I splurged on a Laurel Hill Forest Palmwood hook for this project (and, really, I'm addicted to these hooks now--I'm making the Afghan From Hell using one).

Rippling Along

Crossposted to the NEIS Ripple-Along .

This morning I tried to take a picture of the progress I've made on my ripple. Unfortunately, my two "helpers" wanted in on the action. My 4yo is my Official Random Yarn Picker. He is extremely adamant when he chooses, and he's made a fuss a few times when he thought that I wasn't going to use the "right" yarn next ("Mom, WHERE is the magenta?!?! Why isn't it here?!?!")

The other "helper" is my cat, who eats yarn for dinner. She is very intriqued by the huge pile here that I am needing for this project, and by the sorting and digging that has gone on in my stash as I gather what I need.

As for the ripple itself, I had slowed down partly due to the above-mentioned 4yo's birthday, and partly because I was very dismayed by the section with the dk blue, lt blue, and peach. It was looking very lively up until then, but my "Flower Power" ripple wilted on me. The bright green and magenta have revived it, though, and I've decided that, despite the demands of my Official Random Yarn Picker, I need to ensure that there are no more than two pale colors in any 5-segment section (in between the recurring 2 rows of "Flower Power" variagated), and that each section includes mostly brights and darks, like the first one.

Yummy

I'm working on three acrylic afghans right now--one for a friend's baby (born a year ago--yes, I am bad bad bad); one large granny for my bedroom (started 10 years ago--yes, I am bad bad bad); and a Flower Power ripple for the No-End-In-Sight Ripple-Along. So, when my almost-4 yr old declared that he wanted me to make him an afghan, what did I say? You guessed it. I am sunk into another one.

So, off to the yarn store I went. I decided that, since it was a smallish afghan (only 3 ft x 3 ft), I'd indulge myself, er, my child, in yummy yarn. Lamb's Pride Worsted was the winner. This stuff is almost edible, it's so much fun to work with. And, the colors, while bright, are a totally different, more muted and textured, hue from the Red Heart that I usually use to make projects like this. In celebration of my delicious yarn, I also splurged on a wooden crochet hook (Laurel Hill, Forest Palmwood, size H).

By the way--NEVER, EVER mistakenly leave your pattern at the yarn store. It means you have to go back the next day to fetch it. Uh oh. I'll show you what I bought on clearance another day, when I figure out what to do with it.

Catching Up and Dishing It Out

So much for keeping a journal! Due to a month of kiddie birthdays, I hadn't done much of any stitchery, so nothing to muse about.

We went to PA for a long weekend a few weeks ago. When we were there at Christmas, my mother-in-law had a knitted dishrag that had been given to her, and she seemed to like it (its reappearance on the counter immediately after we'd decontaminated it in the washing machine confirmed this). So, I had decided to make her another and had bought the yarn and a book. Didn't like the book once I got it home (all of the nice-looking ones were knitted, rather than crocheted), so I turned to other projects. Fast forward, and, while packing for the trip, I found a booklet on dishrags in a pile of crochet books in my closet. I'd had it all along. So, into my "in the car" bag went Leisure Arts #2666 "Lots More Wash & Wipes."

I made pattern #12 in the leaflet for my MIL--quick and easy, and it, unfortunately, didn't even manage to kill half of the drive, despite the distractions from the back seat (the kids were strangely interested in the dishrag, and insisted on inspecting the finished product).

I decided that another one might be the ticket for the drive home, so I headed to Michaels and bought another ball of cotton yarn. While there, I considered buying the materials to make a summer poncho. However, I was saved from myself by the fact that I couldn't find both a pattern that I liked AND the yarn to make it. :::whew:::

Anyway, to get to the point of all of this (didn't you realize there would be one?), I made pattern #7 for myself on the way home. It includes a stitch called Cross Stitch, as follows:


"To work Cross St, skip next dc, dc in next dc, working
around dc just made, dc in skipped dc."


There are two figures drawn to show the stitch being done by a right-handed crocheter. Oooooo. Journal fodder! Frankly, I'm glad that I had to figure this one out on my own because I cannot see how the stitch could be accomplished per the drawings--it shows the second stitch being done around the first dc on the crocheter's side of the piece. Frankly, this would require the stitcher to basically stand on her head to accomplish. My wrist certainly doesn't turn upside down. I tried to do it right-handed, as shown in the drawing, simply out of curiosity to see if I was missing the big flick somewhere. Nope. So, I did it behind the post of the first dc. Smugly, I was pleased that my "backwards" left-handed stitches looked just like the drawing, since I'd totally reversed not only the direction of work, but the direction in which the stitch was crossed.

So, what's my point? Even right-handed stitchers get obstacles thrown in their paths sometimes, courtesy of less-than-clear directions, bad drawings, and awkward "made up" stitches. The most important aspect of completing a project is to keep your eye on the big picture--what the finished product is supposed to look like--and then figure out how to reach that "look," using the instructions and photos given, with a healthy dose of your mind's eye thrown in for good measure.